Front seats in lowe stinger?

[J.D. 1950]

I have a 2010 Lowe 175 stinger and about the only thing I don't like is how far back the front seats are. The big storage lid is positioned in front of the pedestale seats. I am thinking about moving the lid frame back against the front livewell and placing a 16"x36"x1/4" peice of alluminum in front of the repositioned lid frame which would move the seats forward about 14". The new models have the seats in this position. My question is has anyone else already done this & how much trouble was it or is there a better way?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Front seats in lowe stinger?

Does your boat have the driver/passenger bench seat? Are you talking about moving the bench forward or the console backward?

Posting pics of you boat will get more replies and better help.

 

[J.D. 1950]

Re: Front seats in lowe stinger?

Does your boat have the driver/passenger bench seat? Are you talking about moving the bench forward or the console backward?

Posting pics of you boat will get more replies and better help.

I was refering to the pedestal seats in the front of the boat that I fish from. I Crappie fish & my partner and myself will both fish from the front of the boat. The closer to the very front of the boat the better.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Front seats in lowe stinger?

Ok, I understand now.

Is the front deck material aluminum or plywood?

On a boat that nice and new I wouldn't do anything that didn't look "factory" unless you don't mind losing a chunk of resale value.

 

[J.D. 1950]

Re: Front seats in lowe stinger?

The boat is all alluminum and it looking like factory is my number one concern. I believe I can cut the deck in line with the storage lid and then remove the rivets and slide it reward toward the livewell. I called a tool & die place and got a price for the alluminum needed with them custom fitting it along with the three inch holes for the pedestal bases. I believe once carpet is down covering everything it will look factory. I was just wondering if anyone else has already done this. It's some trouble and kind of pricey but cheaper than trading just for an extra 14" forward.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Front seats in lowe stinger?

I haven't done one, but it doesn't sound like too bad of a job if you have the tools... and it doesn't really take that many more tools to do metal work. Mainly you'll need a good rivet setting tool and I'd recommend closed end blind (pop) rivets instead of the weaker open end pop rivets.

You may run into some framing issues under the decking, but those can be solved fairly easy.

I'm pretty sure you'll have to remove floatation foam to move the storage backwards and the replace it on the front side, but that's not hard.

Have you ever replaced any boat carpet before?